FIRE’s Work Recognized in the ‘Boston Herald’

The Boston Herald published a recent article recognizing FIRE’s efforts to promote free speech rights and eradicate speech codes on America’s college campuses.

The article highlights FIRE’s efforts on behalf of students at Tufts University who were found guilty of harassment for publishing two satirical pieces in a student publication. As the article details, while Tufts ultimately overturned the ban it had imposed on anonymous editorials, it has refused to this point to remove the harassment finding against the student publication.

The Herald article also discusses the fact that Northeastern University in Boston was named FIRE’s “Speech Code of the Month” for February 2007. It ties this in with the bigger picture nationally; as the article notes, FIRE’s Spotlight on Speech Codes 2007 report found that an astonishing 75 percent of institutions reviewed “maintain policies that clearly restrict speech that outside the borders of campus is protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution.” This figure, perhaps more than anything else, underscores that FIRE still has plenty of work to do as 2007 nears its end and the calendar turns to the new year.